


The Art of Purrsuasion

by ColorMeParanoid



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood is a hot mess, Cats, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Misunderstandings, magnus loves him anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorMeParanoid/pseuds/ColorMeParanoid
Summary: The cat was gorgeous, with its black fur a perfect match to Magnus' hair, but it was the golden eyes that really sealed the deal for Alec, the warlock mark on full display.Relieved to have found his husband, Alec let his shoulders relax from his fighting stance as he approached the bed and took a seat at the edge of it. He felt a little awkward, unsure on how to go about this situation. What was the protocol of handling your cat-husband? He'd really like to pet him, but maybe that would be considered somehow offensive or degrading? He wished Magnus thought to leave him some instructions before this happened because he was completely lost on what to do here.Or, the one where Alec finds a new cat in the loft and jumps to conclusions
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 16
Kudos: 114





	The Art of Purrsuasion

By the time Alec made it home, he was beyond exhausted. It had been another long day in an even longer week and finally, he'd had enough. He was a married man now and he was not going to repeat the same mistakes he saw his parents do for as long as he was old enough to pay attention.

He was going to make a concentrated effort to make it home for dinner every night, regardless of the paperwork still piled high on his desk. Because filing everything by the Clave's ridiculous deadlines just wasn't sustainable in the long term.

Alec fully expected Magnus to already be home from his own very busy day with various clients. But to his surprise, Magnus was nowhere to be found. Alec checked the rooms and found no notes, not even a text message telling Alec that he'll be late getting home.

"Magnus?" he called out into the loft, hoping that Magnus tucked himself away somewhere where Alec couldn't see him. Instead of Magnus, there was a soft little meow that came from the direction of their bedroom. Alec frowned. That didn't sound like Chairman, who sounded more like an old man who smoked at least three packs of cigarettes per day. This one sounded soft and sweet, like a deceptively innocent kitten and Alec was immediately on full alert.

On soundless feet, he made his way into the bedroom and surveyed the room. At a first glance, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. But then, he sensed movement on the bed and switched the light on, hand already reaching for his seraph blade.

Only, with the light softly illuminating the room, he realized that the thing moving on the bed wasn't in fact a dangerous demon, but rather a cat – a pitch black and rather large cat who was looking at him with its familiar golden eyes.

He blinked at the cat, confused. This was far from the first time that he came home to find a new cat occupying the loft, as Magnus was a very passionate cat lover who’d yet to meet a cat he didn’t try to befriend. But the look of this one seemed a little too on the nose to be a coincidence.

"Magnus?" he asked again and the cat meowed in response, just as soft as before but no less sweet. It was crazy of him to even consider this, but if he was being honest, he'd ran into Magnus doing far weirder things than just turning himself into a cat for some unknown reason. Maybe it was a potion gone wrong or hell, maybe it was something he'd done out of his own volition but Alec had no doubt that this was Magnus standing right in front of him on all four furry legs.

The cat was gorgeous, with its black fur a perfect match to Magnus' hair, but it was the golden eyes that really sealed the deal for Alec, the warlock mark on full display. 

Relieved to have found his husband, Alec let his shoulders relax from his fighting stance as he approached the bed and took a seat at the edge of it. He felt a little awkward, unsure on how to go about this situation. What was the protocol of handling your cat-husband? He'd really like to pet him, but maybe that would be considered somehow offensive or degrading? He wished Magnus thought to leave him some instructions before this happened because he was completely lost on what to do here.

Magnus seemed perfectly calm as he regarded him, didn't seem to be in any distress so Alec didn’t immediately reach for his phone to call Catarina for assistance. Magnus told him many times that often, the curses and potion mishaps expired overnight. If Magnus didn't return to normal by morning, he'd call in reinforcements. But for now, he'd just let it be.

Alec reached out with a hesitant hand and after a moment of contemplation, Magnus butted his head against his knuckles and all but jumped into his lap and rubbed himself all over his shirt. Alec laughed, giving him all the attention that he clearly wanted without reserve now that he knew he had permission.

Magnus in his cat form was so cute it made his teeth ache. Don't get him wrong, it was still beyond weird but since he met Magnus, he'd learned how to lean into the weirdness and just go with it. It was the best course of action to protect his sanity.

"I missed you, too," he said, scratching Magnus behind the ears, much to his delight. "Do you know how long you'll be stuck like this?"

Because as cute as Magnus was like this, Alec kind of just wanted to kiss him hello and cuddle up with him in bed and just talk the night away. It felt like it'd been forever since they had a proper conversation and he missed it.

"Meow," Magnus said and Alec sighed. Yeah, he didn’t know why he bothered asking. But maybe...

Struck with an idea, Alec placed Magnus gently back onto the bed and fetched a sheet of paper and poured some ink into a shallow ceramic bowl. He set his supplies onto the nightstand and called Magnus over to put his brilliant idea into use.

Obviously, Magnus couldn't use a pen to write, but if he dipped a paw into the ink, they had a perfect way of communication!

Only, Magnus simply sniffed at the laid out supplies and sat down on top of the paper, looking curiously up at Alec. There was just enough judgement in that look to make Alec blush, embarrassed that he ever thought that this would work in the first place.

He cleared his throat. "Right. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Want to join me for dinner?"

Magnus gave another meow that Alec took as agreement and after a moment, he carefully picked him up and cradled him in his arms. Chairman didn't exactly like to be carried, so trying to pick him up was always a risk but Magnus went easily, perching on his shoulder and looking curiously around the loft from his new vantage point. He wasn’t _that_ much shorter than Alec, but it was still something Alec loved teasing him about.

Once in the kitchen, Alec set Magnus onto the table because he didn’t feel right making his husband eat off the floor and pulled out two plates. On the first one, he served some leftover pasta and on the other, he served up some fresh cuts of fish that Magnus always had on hand to indulge in his recent sushi obsession. 

He had a brief thought that maybe he should have cut up the fish into smaller pieces first, but Magnus attacked it with an almost scary ferocity and he went to eat his food instead, keeping a safe distance between his own plate and Magnus'.

Magnus finished his plate first, which was a surprise to no one and Alec poured himself a glass of wine and then pulled out another glass and filled it with cream for Magnus because no matter how much he tried to get at his wine, Alec could not give alcohol to a _cat_. He'd done his research. He knew it was dangerous, and he was not risking it, magical cat or not.

"So," Alec said after he sipped on his wine, feeling weird doing it on his own. He'd only ever been a social drinker, and most of the time it was with Magnus after a long day. "How was your day?"

He knew, of course, that in his cat form Magnus couldn’t exactly respond to his questions but he still wanted to fill the silence even if Magnus paid him no mind as he started licking his paws, which was admittedly a little gross. He'd have to remember to make Magnus brush his teeth and wash his mouth very thoroughly when he returned to his human self because Alec was not going to kiss him otherwise.

Seeing as Magnus wouldn’t even feign a conversation with him, then Alec decided to just talk at him. He _was_ listening, judging by the way his ears kept flicking back and forth at the sound of Alec's voice, even though apparently washing his paws took precedence at the moment.

"Jace did the craziest thing today-" he said, launching into a story of Jace's latest misadventure, filling in the expressions on Magnus' face and his snarky commentary by memory when he didn’t have the real thing. He was hallway through his glass of wine when he heard the sound of his name in what was unmistakably Magnus' voice.

"I see you've met our newest housemate."

Alec blinked at the cat, startled and the cat blinked back. Was Magnus able to talk this entire time and he just didn't? Was this a sign that he was starting to return to his human form?

Or did Alec just completely lose his goddamn mind?

"Alexander," the voice said again and it was definitely not coming from the cat who looked just as surprised at him, if cats could even look surprised. "What is the cat doing on the table and why are you talking to it as if it can actually understand you?"

Slowly, Alec turned his head towards the living room and took in Magnus standing there, looking completely baffled by the situation he'd just walked in on. And he wasn’t the only one.

"Magnus!" Alec exclaimed, startling everyone in the room again, including himself. Because as the realization hit him, he knew that he had to backtrack incredibly quickly because if Magnus got wind of his absolutely idiotic conclusion, he'd never let him live it down. "You're back! Because you weren't here when I got home, not at all, not in any other shape or form and species. And I _knew_ that because I looked everywhere and you were just... gone."

Smooth, Alec. Very smooth.

"Yes, I'm back," Magnus said, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowing like they did whenever he was suspicious. "My meeting with the client took a little longer than expected, but don't change the subject. What is the cat doing on the table and why are you feeding it wine?"

"I'm not giving him wine," Alec said, offended by the assumption. "I gave him cream, see?" He tilted the wide rimmed wine glass to the side and Magnus- the _cat_ , he quickly corrected himself – immediately got its little head inside and kept drinking with careful, strategic licks. "I think he likes it."

"She," Magnus corrected, realization slowly clouding his eyes as he took in two plates set on the table and two wine glasses and Alec's conviction that it was a _he_ and not a her, meaning that he hadn't even bothered to check. "Alec. Did you think that she was _me_?"

He was barely holding back his laughter as he said it and Alec glared accusingly at the cat as if she'd deceived him on purpose and turned him into a fool. Unfortunately, he was the only one who could take the blame for that.

"It was the most logical assumption to make in the moment, okay?" Alec said, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Magnus didn’t even bother trying to hide his laugh anymore. "How, pray tell, did you come to this _very_ _logical_ conclusion? Because for the life of me I can't figure it out."

Alec gestured at the cat who was sitting on the table and staring at both of them, a picture of innocence. "Just look at her. Black fur, golden eyes. You didn't leave a note or a text saying where you were. What was I supposed to think?"

Magnus nodded, biting his lip to contain another laugh. "Okay," he said, exhaling a deep breath. "I can kind of see that. I didn't text you since I didn't think you'd be home this early, but did it ever occur to you to text me first? Instead of, you know, just assuming that I'd somehow been turned into a cat?"

At this point, Alec cheeks felt so hot he was worried he might just burst into flames. "Then how do you explain why she responded to your name then, huh?" he asked, a last ditch effort to at least attempt to save some face.

"You'd respond to anything someone asked you, wouldn't you sweetheart?" Magnus said to the cat in a gentle voice and as if on cue, she meowed. "Such a sweet little girl, aren’t you?" Another meow that was basically the final nail in the coffin of Alec’s mistake.

“Traitor,” he hissed at the cat who flicked her tail and jumped off the table, strutting away without a care in the world, leaving Alec to fend for himself. “Don’t say it,” he told Magnus, laying his head on the table so that he didn’t have to face his amused husband. “I’m already well aware that I’m an idiot.”

He heard Magnus’ footsteps and then his fingers sank into Alec’s hair, stroking through it just the way he liked and it was hard to stay in a bad mood when Magnus was doing his best to make him melt into a puddle.

“I think it’s kind of sweet,” Magnus said and Alec lifted his head up just so he could show Magnus the full incredulity of that in his expression. “Fine, it was also completely ridiculous and I will mercilessly tease you about it for the rest of our lives,” he corrected himself, making Alec groan. “But! Even though you thought I was somehow turned into a cat, you didn’t seem to mind it much. You fed me and talked to me like it was the most normal thing in the world.” He shrugged, hand coming up to fiddle with his ear cuff. “It’s nice knowing you’d have my back in any situation, however misguided you were about it.”

“For better or for worse, right?” From Alec’s perspective, it really wasn’t a big deal. Oh, it was absolutely weird but he was an expert in weird by now. “I think you’d be a pretty cute cat.”

“Fortunately for both of us, I have no intention of finding that one out as a fact.” Kissing his forehead, Magnus moved into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Alexander, please don’t tell me you fed your new best friend my very expensive tuna.”

Alec cleared his throat. “Well, in my defense I did at the moment think that she was you, so. I think I should get some brownie points for that.”

Sighing, Magnus shut the door of the fridge. “Next time, please just text me first, okay?”

Alec handed Magnus his own half filled glass of wine and urged him to sit. “I’ll reheat you some pasta.”

It was a true testament to how hungry and tired Magnus was that he didn’t even protest or bother summoning anything else. He patiently sipped at the wine as Alec plated his food and put it into a microwave that was there specifically for Alec in the interest of compromise.

Either he’d have a way of heating up leftovers, or he’d be allowed to roam free in Magnus’ fancy kitchen without his supervision and mess up his intricate organization system and it would be a whole thing. Magnus was really particular about his pot placement, as Alec had come to find out. 

“Thank you, darling,” Magnus said and tilted his head up for a kiss that Alec gladly gave him. They kissed for a while, but while Alec liked the direction they seemed to be going in, the grumbling of Magnus’ stomach was really killing the mood.

He pulled away, ignoring the tempting pull of Magnus’ pouting lips and pulled out the plate from the microwave.

“Food first, then we’ll take this to the bedroom.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Magnus said and Alec settled in next to him to wait, just drinking in his presence and his company, anticipation simmering between them.

“Meow.” Alec looked down at the cat winding around his legs.

“What do you want now? You already ate,” Alec said, bending over to scoop her up. She really was incredibly cuddly and adorable and Alec would have to broach the topic of maybe keeping her for good this time instead of finding her a new home. If nothing, at least the two of them had bonded through Alec’s idiocy.

“Is that ink?” Magnus asked, frowning at Alec’s shirt and Alec looked down to see a very obvious black paw print against his shirt. Oh shit. Seeing the look of panic on Alec’s face, Magnus simply sighed. “Do I even want to know?”

Alec made a face, carrying the cat over to the sink to run her paws under the water to wash away the ink. He didn’t even want to know the damage she’d managed to do in the bedroom. Alec had never been happier he was dating a warlock than he was now.

“You really, really don’t.”


End file.
